Irish Water has been blasted for spending €6,000 sending 300 of its staff to a laughing yoga class.

The course involved a baseball cap wearing instructor leading the staff in a series of laughter therapy exercises.

Those who attended ranged from those in their early twenties to people at senior executive level.

The aim of the course is to break down inhibitions and to bring out the "inner child".

However, one worker described it as "cringeworthy".

It's also been reported that executives at the utility take part in 'stand up' meetings for 20 minutes every morning, where sitting is forbidden and people have to say whether they feel motivated or not.

Irish Water has confirmed to the Irish Mail on Sunday that the laughing yoga session took place.

It said: "In order to support the integration of the Irish Water Programma, a session to brief all programme employees was held in Croke Park as the programme did not have a suitably sized room in its office.

"The session was attended by circa 300 people. At the end of the session an external guest, a yoga instructor, was invited to input on wellness at a cost of €200."

The revelation is the latest to emerge from Irish Water, which has already been criticised for spending €50million on consultants.

Independent TD for Kildare North, Catherine Murphy, said she was "baffled" by the session.

She said: "It's like they're scratching their heads for ways to spend our money.

"It beggars believe. Team building is one thing but yoga? I wish it were a joke but sadly it's not."